For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
“Your call to me these days, Lord God, is not so much to wallow in nostalgia, to break out in a sudden rash of generosity and gift giving, to get all caught up in the rituals with candles, incense, and the like. You invite me to entrust myself, to place my story within Yours, to set my future firm beside the manger where Your Son may claim it for His own.”
J. Barrie Shepherd in A Child Is Born: Meditations for Advent and Christmas (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1988) 37.
As we focus on love in week two of Advent we come to grips with the reality that we must set our plans for our future beside the manger, realizing our story only has meaning when located within the story of Jesus Christ. If that sounds too lofty, consider this idea in plain terms.
If your Advent is a “sudden rash of generosity and gift giving” and you are all “caught up in the rituals” then your Christmas will be empty. Such people just consume the gospel rather than find life in it. This is not an insignificant point, but rather a common trend in consumeristic America.
Here in Australia, similar distractions are present, however, the situation differs a bit since Christmas comes during Summer break. Down under, the weather is just heating up so the holiday can easily become about getting out and having personal experiences focused on self rather than on the birth of the Savior.
Wherever we find ourselves on this planet, if we set our stories beside the manger, which means to find them as part of God’s story, we find life and continue to do good and live generously long after the holiday is over. God invites all of us to find our future in the Christ of Christmas. Will you?